An Inside Look: Marketing Companies – A New Era of Snake Oil?

byMatt

This “industry” is becoming overrun with people intent on delivering marketing services to small businesses. Undoubtedly, there are many reputable firms out there, but there are also many that are doing more harm than good.

I’ve wanted to address the issue of Marketing Companies for the better part of a year, and I finally got to putting my thoughts on paper, or video as it were. I took some time to speak to several former colleagues from multiple industries and levels of management before making the video to be sure that I wasn’t way off base with my thinking. This is not targeted at any group or person, but rather at the trend that I see emerging.

After doing some analysis, I was pleasantly surprised to find that in the firearms world we’re not as bad as we think at getting our product messages out, but there is definitely a ton of room for improvement. I work with many small and mid-sized businesses (typically <$5MM) and I have heard horror stories of failed interactions with vendors that promised the world and delivered very little. So it boils down to figuring out what fits YOUR company the best. One of the most critical questions to ask before you hire a marketing firm is “Do they have my best interests in mind?” If not, look somewhere else.

Remember, if something goes wrong, it is YOUR reputation on the line, not theirs.

The is the first video in a series I am calling “An Inside Look” which is a collection of my observations in the firearms industry. I get a lot of questions about what really goes on behind the scenes with instructors, training, writing and shooting for print and web magazines, manufacturers, trade shows and all of the assorted personalities. In an effort to pull the curtain back a little, I decided to make these videos.

Please let me know your feedback, or if you have any ideas or questions. I’d be happy to address them in future editions.

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Exurbankevin

This. This. So very much this. Thank you very, very much. People talk about the "slick marketing of the gun industry" when the fact is, I see easily avoidable mistakes being made by gun companies every single day.
The worst happened a few years ago, when a holster company used the SHOT Show email list to send out an email, and email that was just one big .jpg... then they forgot to upload the .jpg. They sent out an email to their core audience that was nothing but a subject line and a missing image.
Whoops.
A little professionalism, and a little focus on client success goes a long, long way in our industry.